Rossi Collects Fifth Top-Three Finish of 2018
Alexander Rossi continued his solid 2018 campaign with a third-place finish in Saturday night’s 248-lap race at Texas Motor Speedway. The 2016 Indy 500 winner moves back into second place in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings.
After taking the green flag from the eighth position, Rossi made strong runs to chase down the top three qualifiers. By Lap 2, Rossi had made his way to the fifth position and consistently ran no lower for the remainder of the evening, outside of pit stop windows. On Lap 63, the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS car took the lead until the car pulled into the pits on Lap 71 for a fresh set of Firestone tires and fuel.
Midway through the race, Rossi and the 27 crew suffered through a fuel probe issue resulting in a long pit stop under yellow. The 26-year-old took the next restart from the fourth position and fought his way back to the third position with 51 laps to go. Although Rossi battled Simon Pagenaud for the second position the remainder of the race, the Frenchman put up a strong defense and the young American settled for third and valuable championship points.
“Simon did a good job defending,” said Rossi. “We tried to go up high, and I would have taken it if it was an easy one, but I couldn’t force the issue. The NAPA AUTO PARTS car was awesome from the get-go. We were able to pass some cars and go long on fuel. The tire life was great, so all-in-all a great effort from the 27 team.”
“This was our fifth podium of the year and seventh top five in nine races,” said Rob Edwards, Andretti Autosport COO and strategist for the 27 team. “The consistency is a credit to Alex and the No. 27 crew. It wasn’t our best night in the pits, but we kept fighting and Alex made some great passes. We’re going to have to start finishing in front of Dixon to win this Championship, and there’s no better place to start than Road America.”
The Verizon IndyCar Series teams will take a weekend off before the next race at Road America. The Kohler Grand Prix takes place June 22-24 in Elkhart Lake, WI. The series is now halfway through the season, with eight races remaining on the calendar.
Start / Finish: 8 / 3
Points Earned: 36
Points Standing / Total: 2nd / 334 pts.
Next Race: Kohler Grand Prix at Road America, Sunday June 24 at 12:30 p.m. ET
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NAPA: @NAPARacing
Alexander Rossi: @AlexanderRossi
Andretti Autosport: @FollowAndretti
Andretti Autosport View All
Andretti Autosport, led by racing legend Michael Andretti, boasts a wide racing portfolio rooted in tradition and designed for success.
Under the banners of Andretti Autosport and Avalanche Andretti Formula E, the Indianapolis-based team fields multiple entries across the INDYCAR SERIES, Indy Lights, the FIA Formula E World Championship and the IMSA Prototype Challenge LMP3 division. The team also competes as Walkinshaw Andretti United in the Australian Supercars category through partnership with Walkinshaw Racing and United Autosports additionally the team fields an entry in the Extreme E championship via Andretti United Extreme E.
The global racing enterprise boasts four INDYCAR SERIES championships, five Indy Light titles, one Pro Mazda championship, a Silver Class GT4 Championship and has captured victory five times at the famed Indianapolis 500. The team also holds two X Games Gold Medals and five U.S. rallycross championships.